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Brandon O'Brien

Travel and Adventure Journal

I wanted a place to journal all my travels and adventures around the world. I always enjoy going back and reflecting on my past travels and getting to relive them through my words and photos.

You're reading posts I wrote on October 4 throughout the years. Return home.
Oktoberfest Trip - Day 5 - Hiking to Andechs

Oktoberfest Trip - Day 5 - Hiking to Andechs

Saturday, October 4, 2025 @ 7:34 PM in 2025 Oktoberfest Trip

Sleep last night still wasn't great, but we had nowhere to be this morning so took it fairly easy in getting ready. I ran out and grabbed some more yogurt for breakfast and then we headed to the train station to catch the S8 to Herrsching. We got on the train pretty quick and then it emptied out pretty quickly after the first few stops. We had almost an hour train ride to get to the station and I almost fell asleep a few times. Once in Herrsching, we started the walk up to the Andechs monastery where they have a brewery and biergarten.

It took about an hour to do the walk from town to the monastery. The hike itself was pretty nice. It was mostly on wide paths through some thick forests. There were a decent amount of people hiking up there too. The elevation gain was pretty significant with a lot of steep stairs to climb. While we were hiking, the sun broke through the clouds and we had a really beautiful day while there.

At the monastery, Ben and I took some photos then made our way down to the biergarten. We ordered some food first (two sausages and some potato salad) and then had a half liter of beer, which was the Andechs Special Helles. Both Ben and I wanted to take it easy on the drinking today, so we just had the one beer then started making our way back to town where we'd get on the S8 back to Munich.

The hike down was also really nice. We took a different route that wound through some big valleys. When we made it back into town, we timed it just right and got on a train that was set to leave in a few minutes. The train ride back was pretty uneventful until we got to a station about 5 stops away from where we needed to go. Apparently someone wandered onto the tracks somewhere around the Hirschgarten stop and they had to shut it all down until they figured out what happened. We sat on the train for a few minutes then decided to get out and walk to the Hirschgarten since it was pretty close by.

The park was really nice and had a lot of different playgrounds. By now the weather was turning again and it was starting to get really cloudy. The park was still really nice and relaxing to walk through. I called Sam and Dakotah to catch up while there too. We saw some of the deer that live in the park, walked through the biergarten and then made our way to one of the trams that would take us really close to our hotel.

The tram was packed and it was pretty uncomfortable riding it the six or so stops we needed. By the time we got off, it was starting to sprinkle so we came back to the hotel to drop off some of our stuff, then went back out to the grocery store to grab some snacks for the train ride to Salzburg tomorrow. After killing a little time, we went to dinner at a place called Mama Bao which had some really good Biang Biang noodles and starters. We split some smashed cucumber salad, popcorn chicken and fungi salad dishes. I had a ginger lemon fizz with dinner which tasted really good. They must have used a lot of honey because you could really taste it in there. Both of us sufficiently full, we came back to the hotel again where we're calling it a night.

It's been raining on and off and neither one of us wanted to drink more, so chilling out is a nice option. I also walked over 23,000 steps today, the most of this whole trip. I'm looking forward to the train tomorrow so we don't feel like we're forced to walk as much. The train tomorrow goes directly from Munich to Salzburg, but we're going to make a pitstop in a town called Traunstein where they have a well known brewery. We'll have a beer and lunch there before catching the train again all the way to Salzburg. Unfortunately the weather looks like it's turned for the trip and we're going to have a lot of rain for the rest of the time we're in Europe. Fingers crossed it doesn't rain too hard and we can still get out and walk around and enjoy the sights.

Teaser photos:

Hiking up to Andechs
Hiking up to Andechs
Beer service station at Andechs
Beer service station at Andechs
Beer at Andechs
Beer at Andechs
View from Andechs biergarten
View from Andechs biergarten

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Tags: germany, oktoberfest, munich

Posted from: Germany

A perfect day in Lucca

A perfect day in Lucca

Friday, October 4, 2013 @ 6:09 PM in 2013 Europe

Day 100

Today was a great day to spend walking around Lucca. It started off when the guy below me set his alarm at 6am, snoozed it and then left the room when his alarm kicked back on for a good 15 minutes before he came back. After falling back asleep I got up around 8:30 to start the day.

I saw quite a few of the main sights in town today. I also climbed up the Torre Guinigi and got some great shots of the entire city. The view from up there was simply amazing looking over the town. There are several towers throughout town and it was neat seeing them rise above all the orange tile roofs. Torre Guinigi is a little different because it actually has trees growing on top of it.

I spent the next several hours simply walking around all the winding streets and the city walls. Eventually I stopped and had a slice of pizza for lunch and picked up another bottle of wine. I found a secluded section of the wall and had a couple glasses of wine before walking the rest of the wall.

I zig zagged through the city some more and then finally came back to the hostel after about 6 hours outside walking around. Lucca is a beautiful city. The amount of people out on bikes, running along the wall, and simply being outside enjoying the day is great to see.

I looked at a few stores to see what kind of deals they had on leather jackets but I think I'll wait until I'm in Florence to buy one. I've wanted a leather jacket for a long time and Florence is known for its leather skills. The light jacket I bought before leaving the states simply isn't warm enough either when it gets cold out which is another excuse for getting a nice jacket.

The forecast for tomorrow changed and now it's calling for a 100% chance of rain which is a shame. I'll probably try to head out and walk around a bit if I can avoid some rain but we'll see. Sunday is calling for 60% chance of rain both here and in Pisa. I'll probably still head to Pisa though. The rain might actually keep some of the crowds away which is always nice at the big tourist areas.

Teaser photos:

Lucca from the Torre Guinigi
Lucca from the Torre Guinigi
San Michele in Foro
San Michele in Foro
Lucca and some of its towers
Lucca and some of its towers
Mountains outside of Lucca
Mountains outside of Lucca

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Tags: daily journal, italy, lucca

Posted from: Italy